New York Times: The Age of Big Data

"“It’s a revolution,” says Gary King, director of Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. “We’re really just getting under way. But the march of quantification, made possible by enormous new sources of data, will sweep through academia, business and government. There is no area that is going to be untouched.”

"Data is in the driver’s seat. It’s there, it’s useful and it’s valuable, even hip."